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Inside the house, officers found some residents sharing a single bed with night workers swapping sleeping shifts with those who worked during the day.

Four beds were discovered piled into the front room and three in each bedroom.

The family were pocketing around £112,000 a year from the tenants and were found guilty of breaching landlord licensing rules.

Jaydipkumar Valand, who collected the rent for the Shah family, pleaded guilty at the trial in December last year.

Jaydipkumar Valand, who collected the rent for the Shah family, pleaded guilty at the trial in December last year

Spencer Randolph, head of private housing services at Brent Council, said: "This judgement sends out a clear message that Brent has a zero tolerance policy towards landlords who break the law and exploit vulnerable tenants.

"The lean-to shack we found in the back garden of the property in July last year looked like something you would expect to find in a Hollywood depiction of a shanty town.

"We will prosecute any landlord or agent we find housing tenants in cramped or hazardous conditions.

"Brent's aim is to help renters by ensuring decent living conditions within the borough."

A family of rogue landlords have been convicted after they were caught cramming 31 people into a "Slumdog Millionaire-esque" shanty home

On Tuesday (May 23), the judge at Willesden Magistrates Court said: "This trial has revealed how people desperate for accommodation in London can be exploited and have paid to live in grossly overcrowded, unhygienic and unsafe conditions."

The four defendants will be sentenced at crown court at a later date.

The judge also ordered the defendants to pay Brent Council £35,000 in costs.

This month, fines paid to the courts by criminal landlords following successful prosecutions by Brent Council passed the half a million pound mark.